1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a mirror support device and optical scanning apparatus adopting the same, and more particularly, to a mirror support device which is capable of orienting a mirror toward left, right, up and down directions, and an optical scanning apparatus adopting the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical scanning apparatuses, such as a laser scanning unit (LSU) are widely used in image forming devices and image reading devices, such as digital copiers, electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, facsimiles, and bar code readers. In an optical system, the optical scanning apparatus uses a mirror to direct light to a desired location. Therefore, the optical scanning apparatus is provided with a mirror support device for supporting the mirror and controlling the light directing.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a conventional mirror support device.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional mirror support device includes a mirror 1, a mounting part 10, an elastic clasp 70, and an aligning screw 30. The mounting part 10 includes a base 20 and a vertical wall 40. When assembled, the mirror 1 stands on the base 20 while facing the vertical wall 40.
The vertical wall 40 defines an aligning hole 46 through which the aligning screw 30 moves forward and backward to tilt the mirror 1 in forward and backward directions. The aligning screw 30 has a contact surface 32 at one end thereof. The contact surface 32 comes into contact with the mirror 1 when the aligning screw 30 moves the mirror 1. The vertical wall 40 includes three coupling protrusions 48 to fix the elastic clasp 70 thereto. The three coupling protrusions 48 are formed at the top and both sides of the vertical wall 40.
The elastic clasp 70 fastens the mirror 1 to the mounting part 10. The elastic clasp defines an opening 76 to expose the mirror 1. Also, the elastic clasp defines coupling holes 78 to which the coupling protrusions 48 are coupled when assembled.
To assemble the conventional mirror support device, the mirror 1 is placed on the base 20 to face the vertical wall 40, and then the elastic clasp 70 is fixed to the mounting part 10 by inserting the coupling protrusions 48 into the coupling holes 78. The mirror 1 in the mirror support device can be oriented to up and down directions by moving the aligning screw 30 forward and backward.
However, the mirror support device has a disadvantage in that the contact surface 32 can be improperly abutted against the mirror 1 when orienting the mirror to the up or down direction, causing the mirror 1 to be oriented to an undesired left or right direction. Further, the mirror support device is not suitable for orienting the mirror 1 to directions other than the up and down directions, such that it is inconvenient to align the mirror using the conventional mirror support device.